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I have a huge AOTW. My teacher officially bumped from from level 1 to level 2 yesterday. She told me to sightread through till I found something I couldn't do that with, so I ran out of stuff in level 1! I'm short on some theory stuff and a few chords but she's covering that and I move along!

So for a few weeks I get to work on two songs I really wanted to try and then onto my level 2 books!

I feel fantastic. Before our lesson I thought I was doing so badly and would have to repeat even more and here I'm further then I thought! Turns out I should not listen to my self talk cause it's way off base! I'm so glad I got a teacher!

Starkeys, congratulations for getting into the performance class. Passing an audition is not an easy thing to do.

My AoTW - I did better in my studio class today. No more shakey hands. I think I am getting used to play in front of other people. As my teacher said at the beginning, the only way to get better at performing is doing it. I'm happy to say that it is true I had a couple of memory issues but i continued played. I stopped thinking about mistakes made and concentrated on playing the rest of the piece in the way i want. In a couple of spots I applied pretty good coverups for errors. I also usednew fingerlings that I changed in the past 24 hours. My audience gave me my first bravos. It made my day.

This week was my first week back to the piano in about 12 years. I broke down last weekend and bought a Kawai CA65. I literally can't get enough of this thing. I'm worried I'm going to wear it out prematurely. With that being said I'm working through a few pieces I played back in high school in the late 90's. They are The Entertainer, Prelude in C sharp minor Rachmaninov, and Raindrops Prelude by Chopin. I am very rusty but I can tell that I have defiantly made a lot of progress this week. My fingers are struggling though. I've started playing Hanon exercises and my left hand appears to be worthless and weak. But I am making progress. I think I'm going to start scouting out a good teacher. It's great to be back!

Dustin, welcome to the forum. I'm came back to piano as an adult as well. My first attempt to come back was when I was in graduate school, quit again (due to marriage, work, sit for certification exam etc) and restarted about 4 years ago. I remember my shaking and weak fingers when I came back first time. I too tried my old pieces and was surprised I actually remembered my old recital pieces. Good luck with your piano journey.

Congratulations on level 2 BeccaBb, that was quick. Welcome to the thread Dustin, this thread is my favorite one across all the forums. Farmgirl, you may not feel like you have talent, but you do. It may not be top 2% talent like some others on the forum have, but if they tested folks for aptitude, you'd be in the top half for sure, maybe top 10% considering how far you have traveled on your piano journey. Remember, most beginners give up after 2 years, mostly due to frustration at their inability to advance past the beginner stages. Ragdoll, ouch about cutting your hand. I am clumsy at times too, so can relate to the story. The bit about the word mandolin did liven up the thread.

Week 46: The big news is that my new digital piano is here. The Casio PX-150 arrived on Friday and is a significant upgrade from the Yamaha NP-11 with its 61 plastic keys. I was concerned about the piano being bigger than the desk, but it is working out. I can sit and improvise at random and go to a far away place, away from the concerns of daily life. The sound is different, though the classic setting sounds similar to the main Yamaha sample.

I am back to poking at Canon in D. I don't have enough technique or speed to play the fast part, but the slow part sounds like music. The two arrangements I have are confusing because playing the notes in the notation sounds wrong, and it too fast for my ear to pick out. I performed Shadow last week, but am still working on it. I am adding or changing a phrase here and there, to give it more of a shadowy mood. I may do it for the ABF recital, I may choose an older original piece. I uploaded my live performance of the Pentatonic improvisation Black Hills. It has a jazzy feel and was recorded with an electric piano sound and strings.https://www.box.com/s/jtobbtvil1jdf5fbkhn1

Being self-directed is good and bad. I explore the C minor scale. I want to write to the title Equinox, but nothing I play seems to capture the spirit of that word to me. I want to play for hours and hours, but remind myself that with my history that is the road to injury, so am watching the time.

Have a good week everyone. For those beginner beginners reading along, don't let your own expectations or comparisons with others get you down. Most beginners feel like they are not progressing as fast as they would like, including me, including many of the high achievers. Most get frustrated at times, so reading about others leaping ahead, or listening to their polished recital pieces can be intimidating. Each person is at their own pace. It isn't a competition. The journey is its own reward. For me, that feeling of losing myself in the music is so powerful, so rewarding unto itself.

1) Finished (I think) the first movement of the 'Moonlight Sonata' (my teacher would probably slap me for calling it that, seeing as Beethoven was German). It's still on my WIP list, because I haven't had a chance to let anyone hear it, and there's still some serious work to be done regarding micro-timing within the piece. Plus, so long as my teacher doesn't say it's done, it isn't. But I'm thinking I might participate in the February ABF recital with it. Maybe.

2) Sold my Roland RD-150 digital stage piano, which is to be replaced by a Boston Baby Grand in a few days. I'm pretty excited about getting to play an acoustic all the time now (not to mention, a grand piano), even though the make and model is likely not the one I would have chosen for myself, had I had that opportunity (my grandparents bought it, and I'm paying them back to make the instrument mine in two years).

3) Found this forum, which seems like a really fun and supportive place for late starters like me. For clarity's sake: I'm not an absolute beginner, in that I had about 1-2 years of formal piano lessons in my childhood and teenage years, spread over several soon-aborted attempts at learning to play. But I've been taking classes again for about five months now, and am more serious than ever about playing the piano.

Plodding through piano music at a frustratingly slow pace since 9/2012.

FarmGirl- Glad things went better this week! Good for you for getting back on track after a memory blip!

Dustin- Welcome! We'll be very interested in hearing about you gettting back in musical shape!

SandTiger - congrats on the new instrument-- I am looking forward to hearing it. With regards to some parts of your Canon sounding "off"... this might be because you're playing it slowly. I've noticed that when slowly there are combinations in many pieces that sound awful, but when played at tempo they sound really interesting.

I also like your words on not getting discouraged by how well others are doing. I need to remind myself of that often, especially as I feel that I could have/should have made more progress over the past year. In some ways I'm disappointed about that, but in another way I know I'm really on track with this new teacher and things are going well. I'm enjoying the journey again, and I wasn't for a little while. All is well

Saranoya - welcome! You're playing some interesting pieces there! Your new piano sounds exciting - and you sound very "high" on getting back to piano playing. I think we can all relate to that!I do hope you join in the February recital - there is a tremendous range of ability in the performers - some have a lot more experience than you would expect and others have joined in after just a couple of weeks of lessons. It is really wonderful to hear how people improve from one recital to the next, and to be introduced to music you might not ever hear (as well as some famous favourites!)

My AOTWeekend is to have made some delightful progress on the dynamics of my jazz piece, and to have gotten a bit further along with the barocque piece. I had put it aside in my enthusiasm for Melody last week. I have done just a bit on Melody. My focus was getting the jazz piece ready for the recital. I think I'll be recording tomorrow

My AOTWeekend is to have made some delightful progress on the dynamics of my jazz piece, and to have gotten a bit further along with the barocque piece. I had put it aside in my enthusiasm for Melody last week. I have done just a bit on Melody. My focus was getting the jazz piece ready for the recital. I think I'll be recording tomorrow

I hardly ever get in here anymore, so I may have missed an earlier post - which Melody are you working on?

My AOTWeekend is to have made some delightful progress on the dynamics of my jazz piece, and to have gotten a bit further along with the barocque piece. I had put it aside in my enthusiasm for Melody last week. I have done just a bit on Melody. My focus was getting the jazz piece ready for the recital. I think I'll be recording tomorrow

I hardly ever get in here anymore, so I may have missed an earlier post - which Melody are you working on?

Schumann's. From his Music for the Young OP68, N1 I think it is very sweet.

Ragdoll, ouch about cutting your hand. I am clumsy at times too, so can relate to the story. The bit about the word mandolin did liven up the thread.

Thanks Sand Tiger, Got the stitch out Saturday so only a light bandage. I found a work around for RH playing at Office Max in the form of a rubber finger stall that bank tellers use for counting money. Split it 1/4" the length so I could bend the knuckle and VOILA! I can play with BH again now, albeit rather clumsy still .

Also, I have ordered a ZOOM Q3HD (be here thursday) to record some stuff for self evaluation and possibly participate in some of the piano bars in the future. Very excited to get this. I tried recording my digital but couldn't quite get the hang of it and the sound was bad. I want to record my U1!

I hardly ever get in here anymore, so I may have missed an earlier post - which Melody are you working on?

Schumann's. From his Music for the Young OP68, N1 I think it is very sweet.

I'm working on the same piece, but I sure don't sound like that. It's a pretty piece, & not easy. This week my teacher wants me work on emphasizing the LH melody notes and lightening up on the drones (at least I call them drones - the G's that repeat in some of the LH passages.) And on getting LH & RH notes that are supposed to sound together to actually do that. I'm assuming that means that when I play it, they don't. It's challenging. But the fact he's focusing on these things means I'm hitting all the right notes & my timing's OK, if a bit sloppy. Which is an achievement of a sort, I guess.

Ragdoll - I'm glad your finger's getting better. What kind of digital do you have? I got a P-155 just before Christmas & haven't yet figured out how to save a recording, though I've been using the record + play back function a lot - especially to practice getting notes to sound together where they're supposed to. I also have a U-1.

FarmGirl - Great come back on your second studio class. Congrats for the bravos!

Dustin - Welcome back to the world of piano. With the pieces you were playing before, you should come back up to speed in no time!

SandTiger - Congratulations on your new digital piano. Will we hear it in the recital?

Welcome Saranoya. We would love to hear your Moonlight Sonata in the recital too!

CasInItaly - It sounds like you are having a lot of fun with your Jazz piece. I can't wait to hear it!

Ragdoll - I am glad you are able to play again. Have fun trying out your recorder. I have an Zoom H2 and I love it. It is simple enough for even a non-techie like me!

I don't have an AOTW, just steady progress. The nocturne is coming together very nicely now, and my teacher is pleased with my progress on it. We are into the fun, interpretive part now. I still have some work to do to get the ending up to speed, but it is getting better. I love the Arabesque! The polyrhythms are working well, but my teacher wants some HS practice to learn the choreography. The Invention is teaching me a lot about prepositioning. So, everything is coming along slowly!

Starr - that is quite a momentous undertaking. Congrats on taking such a scary step.

Farmgirl - kudo's for staying focused after a couple of slips. Those audience Bravo's must have felt like Carnegie Hall! How are the 4 against 3's going?

Dustin - Welcome back to piano and welcome to the thread. Sounds like you are going to pick up right where you left off.

Saranoya - Another welcome to the thread. There is nothing better than sitting down to a newly acquired grand. We want pictures! As you can see Moonlight 1st Mvmt. is on my WIP also. Can't wait to hear yours if it goes to the recital or piano bar. Are you working your way through the whole Burgmuller Op. 100?

SandTiger - How exciting to jump into the 82 key swimming pool. You should treat yourself with some piece that uses the whole keyboard.

Ragdoll - Glad to hear you are on the mend. When I heard you cut yourself on a mandolin I really winced, as I know these innocent looking devices can do major damage with just one little slip. I've got a 1 inch scar on the top half of my #2 left finger resulting from an encounter with a standard cleaver while I was.....wait for it....... yes, cutting up beets long ago. LOL. Weird but true.

Carol - Melody is a little finger twister isn't it? Actually whenever I've had any Schuman to work on I've found it always harder than it looked.

SwissMs - Can't wait to hear your nocturne. I'm using the same invention as a special reading exercise and find I look forward to it every morning for 10 minutes or so.

Cheryl - Ooooooo, looking forward to the e-cital and hearing your Sneakin 'Round. Is it the same tune as this one (Phineas Newborn, Jr. on piano)? Ray Bryant also does a version on youtube. [video:yahoo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XLbLKf9GnY[/video]

Wow, sorry for such a long post. No real AOTW for me. This morning the trickiest (for me) three measures of Moonlight-1 came out just as I was trying to play them, voiced as I was trying, and sounding very musical. If I could just get it to do that consistently I'd almost be home on this one.

Cheryl - Ooooooo, looking forward to the e-cital and hearing your Sneakin 'Round. Is it the same tune as this one (Phineas Newborn, Jr. on piano)? Ray Bryant also does a version on youtube. [video:yahoo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XLbLKf9GnY[/video]

Wow, sorry for such a long post. No real AOTW for me. This morning the trickiest (for me) three measures of Moonlight-1 came out just as I was trying to play them, voiced as I was trying, and sounding very musical. If I could just get it to do that consistently I'd almost be home on this one.

Hi Jim,no that's not at all like my Sneakin' Round. Mine is pretty unsophisticated But fun.

Congrats on getting those three tricky measures voiced and musical! I hope we get to hear you playing this - I just love the Moonlight.

Saranoya - Another welcome to the thread. There is nothing better than sitting down to a newly acquired grand. We want pictures! As you can see Moonlight 1st Mvmt. is on my WIP also. Can't wait to hear yours if it goes to the recital or piano bar. Are you working your way through the whole Burgmuller Op. 100?

Hi Jim,

Yeah, I am really looking forward to the arrival of the grand. Like I said, I never planned on buying one this early in the journey, but as fate would have it, I apparently did. Now I'm determined to wring every conceivable ounce of enjoyment out of it. And, as promised in a different thread, I will post pictures ASAP.

It seems a lot of people might like to hear my version of the Moonlight Sonata. I will do what I can. Just not sure an iPhone can do a grand piano justice ... and an iPhone is all I have right now, in terms of recording equipment. I may buy a Zoom H1 at some point, but I just bought a washing machine, and a vacuum cleaner, and a boatload of furniture ... and about 60% of the aforementioned grand piano. The Zoom can wait.

Re: working my way through the whole Burgmuller opus 100: yep. That's the idea, anyway.

And just out of curiosity: which three measures do you consider the most difficult ones in the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata? I'm rather curious to know whether they are the same three measures as my 'most difficult three'.

Plodding through piano music at a frustratingly slow pace since 9/2012.

Making progress on my recital piece! I've been practising the one hard passage for two weeks now. Should be able to get it in two more. This means I won't be on top of the submissions, but that's less important. There are four bars with fast arpeggios in the left hand and a relatively simple melody in the right. I got the final measure down, just got to get the rest up to speed.

Teacher says I can start working on a Chopin waltz after this is finished. Excited!

I had a couple of public playing experiences this last week. I accompanied the "treble choir" (that's the 5-9 year olds) at church which was a relatively last minute request due to the death of our assistant organist's mother-in-law

(Oh, and don't let organist confuse you - I was definitely playing a lovely 19th century Steinway we have at church!)

It wasn't a terribly difficult piece but it was quite fast. All in all I think I did OK, plenty of clunkers but people listen to the kids not me anyway.

And that evening we had one of our "adult" (high school kids are invited too) informal group performance sessions my piano teacher runs. I played Bach Invention in D minor and the Kuhlau Sonatina and I pretty much nailed both of them. My teacher wrapped up and played the Listz Paganini variations she has been working on - crazy, crazy stuff. Loved it!